Hans Christian Blech

Hans Christian Blech was a German film, stage and television character actor who found success in both Germany and Hollywood.

Career

Blech was born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1915 during World War I. After Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took over Germany in 1933 Blech was conscripted into the Feldgendarmerie in 1941. He served in the army and fought on the Eastern Front until the end of World War II, where he may have acquired his facial scars. Another possible origin of his scars was a car accident on the Darmstadt Luisenplatz when Blech was 14 years old. After four years on the Russian Front, he remained in German [prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|Soviet captivity] until 1947.
He made his English-language film debut in the 1951 film Decision Before Dawn. In this as in many of his other Hollywood films, he played a German soldier. He had prominent roles in the 1962 World War II blockbuster films The Longest Day, Morituri, Battle of the Bulge and The Bridge at Remagen.

Partial filmography

Blum Affair, as Karlheinz Gabler
The Orplid Mystery, as Martin Jarzombeck, Bräutigam
Decision Before Dawn, as Sgt. Rudolf Barth aka Tiger
Sauerbruch – Das war mein Leben, as Brauer Confession Under Four Eyes, as Tscheche
08/15, as Wachtmeister Platzek
The Phantom of the Big Tent, as Naso, Clown mit Puppe
Children, Mother, and the General, as Feldwebel mit den Orden
', as Wachtmeister Platzek
Bandits of the Autobahn, as Willi Kollanski
', as Wachtmeister Platzek
', as Heinze
Un homme se penche sur son passé, as Archer
', as Dr. Laue
', as Oberarzt Dr. Neugebauer
The Inheritance of Bjorndal, as Aslak, Gunvor's Husband
Enclosure, as Karl
The Longest Day, as Major Werner Pluskat
The Visit, as Captain Dobrik
Morituri, as Donkeyman
Battle of the Bulge, as Conrad
La Voleuse, as Radek Kostrowicz
Marat/Sade, as Jean-Paul Marat
The Bridge at Remagen, as Capt. Carl Schmidt
Cardillac, as Cardillac
The Customer of the Off Season, as Hotel Manager
The Scarlet Letter, as Roger Chillingworth
Giordano Bruno, as Sartori
Le Hasard et la Violence
La Chair de l'orchidée, as Gyula Berekian
The Wrong Move, as Laertes
Innocents with Dirty Hands, as Judge
', as Ritter
The Clown, as Derkum
', as Frank
Grete Minde, as Gigas
', as Sellman
Knife in the Head, as Anleitner
Winterspelt, as Wenzel Hainstock
', as Theodor Chindler
Victoria, as Tutor
See You in the Next War, as Bitter
', as Johnny
', as Wilhelm Urack
The [Magic Mountain (1982 film)|The Magic Mountain], as Hofrat Behrens
Solo Run, as C.
Lenin in Zürich, as Hermann Greulich
Colonel Redl, as von Roden
Via Mala, as Maler Lauters
', as Langenau
The [Cry of the Owl (1987 German film)|The Cry of the Owl], as Dr. Knapp
The Play with Billions, as Falk Schönwald
Mit den Clowns kamen die Tränen, as Alwin Westen
Magyar rekviem, as Tanár úr
', as Svoboda
', as Erich Honecker
', as Pfarrer Nothsack
', as Richard